Juventus striker Dušan Vlahović was key to Serbia’s EURO2024 qualifying campaign, scoring three goals in five appearances as his nation reached the tournament finals for the first time since 2000. Ahead of his side’s first match against England on Sunday, he faced the media to discuss the tournament’s importance to Serbia, his career, and comparisons to Harry Kane.
What did Dušan Vlahović say?
“We are happy to be here after 24 years,” Vlahović began, when asked whether Serbia’s squad was set to fulfil its potential on the international stage. “We will give our best to go forward.”
Serbia will get their most difficult group stage opponent out of the way on matchday one, facing England at Gelsenkirchen’s Arena AufSchalke, and the striker acknowledged that Serbia’s relatively young squad will have its work cut out.
Embed from Getty Images“England is one of the strongest teams in the tournament, one of the favourites, it will be very difficult,” he said. “I don’t want to compare the two teams, but I think it will be a good game and we will give our best to get the result.”
On Serbia’s wider aims for the tournament, he added: “We are going game by game, but of course we would like to pass the group stage and in the knockout stage you never know what could happen.”
At 24 years old, Vlahović is among Europe’s top-rated forwards. With out-and-out strikers conspicuously scarce in the modern transfer market, he has garnered interest from a swath of top teams. Set to line up opposite Harry Kane on Sunday, the Serb will be under the microscope.
“[Kane] is… if not the best one of the best strikers in the world. I don’t want to put pressure on [myself] and compare myself to players like this,” he said.
“He is one of the best ever and I am still so young, it is a good chance for me to play without pressure, because everyone expects Harry to win the Euros, so of course it is a good chance for me but I don’t want to compare myself to strikers like this.”
When asked whether he can reach Kane’s level, he simply promised that “I will try… the most important thing is hard work… I hope I have 15 years more to play so we will see in the end.“
Vlahović is not the only star striker in the Serbia camp, though. Former Fulham forward Aleksandr Mitrović, who moved to Saudi Arabian champions Al-Hilal in 2023, is also set to play an important role for the team both on and off the pitch.
Embed from Getty Images“[Mitrović] is very important for us, of course he is the all-time best scorer for the team and it is a big pleasure to play alongside him, hopefully he will help us and score some goals. It is important to grow alongside a player like this, and we are happy to have him in the team.”
Mitrović, who scored 111 times in 206 Fulham appearances before moving to the Saudi Pro League, represents a calming presence off the pitch.
“He is very different, he is so calm, he is funny, we like to spend time together, a lovely person and like I said, it’s a big pleasure to play with him.”
FromTheSpot will provide full coverage of Serbia’s matchup with the Three Lions, and their entire campaign.
